Olean man gets one year in jail for sale of cocaine

LITTLE VALLEY – An Olean man will spend a year behind bars for selling cocaine in the city last June and July.

James V. Hamilton, 45, was ordered this week by Cattaraugus County Judge Ronald D. Ploetz to serve a year in the county jail and go on post-release supervision for a year on his guilty plea last September to criminal possession and criminal sale of cocaine.

According to the District Attorney’s Office, here’s what happened in other cases this week before Ploetz:

• Travis J. Doner, 24, of Salamanca, faces a prison term of up to 15 years when he is sentenced on his guilty plea to a reduced charge of attempted sale of a controlled substance. He was accused of selling morphine in Salamanca on May 9.

• James “Manny” McClary, 39, of Olean, faces a prison term of up to seven years on his guilty plea to criminal sale of a controlled substance. He sold cocaine in Olean last June 28.

• Douglas A. Farnham, 32, of Salamanca, faces a possible seven-year prison term on his guilty plea to criminal sale of a controlled substance in the fifth-degree for a cocaine sale in Salamanca on March 2, 2011.

• Gordon J. Ramsey, 20, of Olean, faces a prison term of up to eight years on his guilty plea to attempted burglary for incidents at buildings in Olean last June 18 and 29.

• Asa J. Washburn, 24, of Salamanca, pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle for driving drunk in Salamanca on Dec. 1. He could face a prison term up to four years.

Also this week, Ploetz imposed three-year terms and probation on drunken driving pleas to Richard P. Tharnish, 52, of Elma, for a Jan. 14, 2012, incident in the Town of Machias; to Beau E. John, 24, of Gowanda, for a Dec. 24, 2011, incident in the Town of New Albion; and to Jeffrey A. Sarver, 61, of Salamanca, for an incident in that city last Feb. 29. All three drivers had their licenses revoked.

Ivan C. Williams, 28, of Coudersport, Pa., was granted a one-year conditional discharge and fined $500 on his third-degree assault and petit larceny plea for his role in an Olean incident Feb. 10.

Ploetz also took not-guilty pleas from: Nathaniel F. Skinner, 18, of Salamanca, on an indictment charging him with felony stolen property possession and grand larceny, for a Salamanca incident last Aug. 22; Julie M. Lay, 51, of Gowanda, on a indictment charging aggravated drunken driving, DWI, failure to keep right and no headlights, for a Perrysburg incident last Sept. 7; and James M. Gayton, 21, of Olean, to a stolen property indictment for an Olean incident last July.